Francis David Charteris, 12th Earl of Wemyss and 8th Earl of March, KT, DL (19 January 1912 – 12 December 2008) succeeded his grandfather in the family titles in 1937.
He was the eldest son of Hugo Francis Charteris, Lord Elcho, who was killed in the First World War. He was educated at Eton College and at Balliol College, Oxford (BA 1933). He was a Colonial Administrator in Basutoland from 1937 until 1944. He was commissioned into the Lovat Scouts (Territorial Army) in 1932. He was promoted Lieutenant in 1935 and transferred to the TA Reserve of Officers in 1937. He served with the African Auxiliary Pioneer Corps in the Middle East from 1941 to 1944.
He married, 1st, in 1940 Mavis Lynette Gordon Murray (d. 1988), daughter of Edwin Edward Murray, of Hermanus, Cape Province, South Africa. They had two daughters and two sons (one daughter died in infancy). The elder son, Iain David Charteris, Lord Elcho, was born in 1945 but died as the result of an accident in 1954; his younger brother, James Donald Charteris, Lord Neidpath (b. 22 June 1948), succeeded his father to the Earldoms in December 2008. Lord Wemyss married, secondly, 1995, Shelagh Kathleen Kennedy, née Thrift.
He was Deputy Lieutenant from 1959 to 1967 and Lord Lieutenant of East Lothian from 1967 until 1987, and a Justice of the Peace since 1957. He was appointed as Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1959, 1960 and 1977. He held the honorary appointment of Lord Clerk Register from 1974 until 2007.
He was a Lieutenant in the Royal Company of Archers. He was Chairman of the Council of the National Trust for Scotland 1947 to 1967, President from 1967 to 1991, and has been President Emeritus since 1991. He was Chairman of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland from 1949 to 1984, President of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society from 1958 to 1962, and President of the National Bible Society of Scotland from 1960 to 1983. He held an honorary LLD from St Andrews University, awarded in 1953, and an honorary DUniv from Edinburgh University awarded in 1983. He was formerly a director of Standard Life and of Scottish Television.
He lived in Gosford House, Longniddry, East Lothian. He died on 12 December 2008 at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Edinburgh.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Duke of Buccleuch |
Lord Clerk Register 1974–2007 |
Succeeded by Lord Mackay of Clashfern |
| Honorary titles | ||
| Preceded by The Marquess of Tweeddale |
Lord Lieutenant of East Lothian 1967–1987 |
Succeeded by Sir Hew Hamilton-Dalrymple |
| Peerage of Scotland | ||
| Preceded by Hugo Richard Charteris |
Earl of Wemyss and March 1937–2008 |
Succeeded by James Donald Charteris |